Calyon acted as Joint Lead Arranger and Joint Bookrunner in a USD 600 million Bridge loan for GP Investments, used to finance 60% of the acquisition of Pride International's Latin American Land Drilling and E&P Services businesses. The remaining 40% of the acquisition amount (USD 400 million) was provided by GP Investments and its co-investors in equity (Temasek Holdings and Amber Capital). Calyon was mandated by GP Investments to prepare take-outs syndication, which will occur on the next 3 months by selling participations to international and local banks. This is a new benchmark transaction for Calyon Brasil given the complexity of the assets fragmented in several countries. GP Investments is the leading private equity firm in Latin America. Since 1993, GP Investments has raised more than USD 2.5 billion from Brazilian and international investors and have acquired forty two companies in eleven different sectors. In May 2006, GP Investments concluded its initial public offering (IPO), becoming the first listed private equity company in Latin America.